Hemant Mehta is the founder and editor of FriendlyAtheist.com, a YouTube creator, and podcast co-host. He is a former National Board Certified math teacher in the suburbs of Chicago. He has appeared on CNN and FOX News and served on the board of directors for Foundation Beyond Belief and the Secular Student Alliance. He has written multiple books, including I Sold My Soul on eBay and The Young Atheist's Survival Guide. He also edited the book Queer Disbelief.
Lately, we’ve seen a handful of complaints/lawsuits over Christian symbols appearing in city seals. Richard Wade commented on this earlier today. Here’s how it goes down: An atheist individual or group complains about it because it’s a violation of church/state separation. People get up in arms because “How dare you go after something so insignificant?” Even atheists. They want to know why we don’t choose our battles a little more wisely. They want us to stop embarrassing other atheists. I’ll… Read more
Wesley Holland grew up in a Mormon family (he left the faith when he was 17) and he’s bothered by how much misinformation about Mormonism is floating around now that Mitt Romney is running for president: Since Mitt Romney became the Republican presidential hopeful, I’ve seen a lot of confusion in the media, online, and at the water cooler about what Mormons really believe. People of most faiths and non-faiths have been wondering if they should be concerned about the… Read more
The folks at Ask An Atheist have put together a list of statements they’d like to see politicians comment on so that we can make a more informed decision on whom to vote for. While some of the statements are silly, many of them warrant a simple Agree/Disagree answer: The planet Earth is closer to 4.7 billion years than it is to 6,000 years old. .. I believe that the United States of America is not officially a Christian nation…. Read more
In 2010, Tyler Clementi, a gay college student, committed suicide after his roommate (and another student) secretly videotaped him hooking up with another guy. Weeks later, the Illinois Family Institute — in all their Christian love — tried to pin the blame on everything they could think of revolving around his sexuality: Perhaps if Tyler had not been taught the bleakly deterministic view that he was “born” homosexual, he would have had more hope for the future and would have… Read more
My friend Dale McGowan is writing the book Atheism for Dummies and blogging about the process. He recently had a chance to offer input on the book’s cover and created a checklist for the image that would grace his book: – Embodies natural worldview – Represents desire to understand world – No religious negation – Directly accessible/relatable (no galaxies or atoms) – Wonder-inducing – Aesthetically pleasing – Not typical. Provokes thought/question. OK if connection not obvious – Owns the illusion… Read more